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Bethlehem Police Department entry pay
What this agency pays a new officer to start, and how that compares with the rest of the country.
Entry pay onlyEvery salary here is what an officer is paid on day one, out of the academy — base pay on a 40-hour week, with no overtime, shift differential, specialty or education pay counted. Nobody stays on it.
Bethlehem Police Department starts at $69,870 a year — about $33.59 an hour on a 2,080-hour year, before overtime. That is $3,185 above the median of the 2,288 agencies on this list, and $1,730 above the median for municipal agencies.
Cost of livingPrices in Pennsylvania run about 2% below the national average, so this goes about as far as $71,609 would somewhere at average prices — $1,739 more than the headline figure. That average hides a wide spread: rent at 85, where goods are 99. Based on state-wide price levels, because this agency is not tied to a single metro area, from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2024. The salary above is what the employer publishes; this line is our arithmetic on it, and nothing on this site is ranked on it.
How big the department isBethlehem Police Department reported 136 sworn officers and 16 civilian staff to the FBI for 2025. That is 1.7 officers per 1,000 residents, over a population of 80,424.A rate is only meaningful for a city department, where the population served is the city’s own. Reporting to the FBI is voluntary, so a count can reflect a partial return as easily as a small agency, and the FBI asks that agencies not be compared on staffing. Source: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, Full-time Law Enforcement Employees, 2025.
What Bethlehem says about itself
The Bethlehem Police Department is ranked the 8th largest Police Department in the state of Pennsylvania.
What Bethlehem does
The Bethlehem Police Department serves the City of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with 154 sworn officers and 15 civilian employees, and is CALEA-accredited.
Where the figure comes from
Checked 19 September 2026. City of Bethlehem Police Recruitment, Why Bethlehem Police, starting salary (2026 rate) — open the source document
2026 rate; first increase six months after hire, top base salary $92,768 in 2026.
Entry-level base salary only. Overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift
differentials, locality pay and lateral rates are excluded, so most officers earn more
than this.
How this level compares
Where Bethlehem sits is partly about the agency and partly about which level of policing it belongs to. The three levels do not pay the same.
| Level | Lowest | Median | Highest | Agencies |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Municipal | $33,280 | $68,140 | $163,619 | 1549 |
| County | $35,000 | $63,565 | $132,263 | 516 |
| Special jurisdiction | $31,200 | $60,204 | $107,954 | 71 |
| State | $33,994 | $65,166 | $110,916 | 145 |
| Federal | $70,477 | $73,502 | $86,530 | 5 |
| Territory | $16,640 | $28,236 | $43,354 | 9 |
Federal agencies pay the most to start
The middle federal agency starts at $73,502 — about $5,400 more than the middle municipal agency and about $9,900 more than the middle county agency and about $13,300 more than the middle special jurisdiction agency and about $8,300 more than the middle state agency and about $45,300 more than the middle territory agency. Bethlehem starts at $69,870, so $1,730 above the municipal middle.
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How it ranks
Common questions
How much does a Bethlehem Police Department officer make?
Bethlehem Police Department starts a new officer on $69,870 a year, about $33.59 an hour on a 2,080-hour year. That is base salary before overtime, bonuses, education incentives, shift differentials and locality pay, so most serving officers earn more. The figure comes from City of Bethlehem Police Recruitment, Why Bethlehem Police, starting salary (2026 rate).
Is that good pay for a police officer in Pennsylvania?
It ranks #8 of 25 agencies we have verified in Pennsylvania — 17 pay less, 7 pay more in the state — and #953 of 2,288 nationally. Against the national median it is $3,185 above, and against other municipal agencies $1,730 above.
Compare with another department
Put Bethlehem Police Department side by side with any other agency on the site — the two salaries, what each is worth once local prices are counted, and which comes out ahead.
The agencies either side of it
Other agencies in PA
| # | Agency | Level | Sworn # | Entry pay | Vs Bethlehem | National |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abington Township Police Department | Municipal | — | $103,421 | +$33,551 | #94 |
| 2 | Lower Merion Township Police Department | Municipal | 118 | $90,162 | +$20,292 | #266 |
| 3 | Penn Hills Police Department | Municipal | 58 | $85,919 | +$16,049 | #339 |
| 4 | Pennsylvania State Police | State | 4,634 | $73,087 | +$3,217 | #756 |
| 5 | Philadelphia Police Department | Municipal | 5,065 | $72,651 | +$2,781 | #782 |
| 6 | Allentown Police Department | Municipal | 215 | $72,607 | +$2,737 | #785 |
| 7 | Manheim Township Police Department | Municipal | 63 | $72,334 | +$2,464 | #794 |
| 9 | Pittsburgh Bureau of Police | Municipal | — | $68,952 | −$918 | #995 |
| 10 | Gettysburg Borough Police Department | Municipal | — | $63,232 | −$6,638 | #1,369 |
| 11 | Northampton County Sheriff's Department | County | 59 | $60,606 | −$9,264 | #1,528 |
| 12 | York County Sheriff's Office | County | 107 | $58,344 | −$11,526 | #1,655 |
| 13 | Harrisburg Bureau of Police | Municipal | — | $58,100 | −$11,770 | #1,673 |
Base pay is only part of the year
Whatever the figure above, the rotation is what decides your year — which weekends you lose, when the changeovers land, what you can plan around. Save yours once and BlueShifts shows it a year ahead, with the off-duty jobs you take and what each one paid.
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